Search results
The hallmark of Lovecraft's work is cosmicism, the sense that ordinary life is a thin shell over a reality that is so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person, [12] insignificance and powerlessness at the cosmic scale, [14] and uncompromising negativity. [15]
Mar 25, 2024 · This might go some way to explain why a lot of Lovecraft’s later fiction made efforts to reconcile the weird tale with modern science, not by providing what he terms ‘contradictions’ of natural law, but rather ‘supplements’ to it. The conventional supernatural elements of horror – werewolves, vampires and other supernatural phenomena (variations of which appear in Lovecraft’s ...
- Sam Woodward
- Overview
- Bases of cosmicism
Cosmicism is a philosophy and literary movement developed by H.P. Lovecraft and his followers through their stories.
Lovecraft was a writer of philosophical horror that included phenomena related to the occult on earth and the secrets of the universe. The themes of their stories contributed to the development of this philosophy. Lovecraft's cosmos does not revolve around the human being; All of Lovecraft's work is sustained under the watchful eye of alien entities from beyond reality that, when they awaken in our world, corrupt and destroy everything that exists that is real to human beings: human beings are a very insignificant presence in the world. general scheme of the universe, a small species but whose arrogance makes us believe that they have a significant or total power as a source of existence in the universe, but nevertheless they can be eliminated at any moment by forces of which they even ignore their existence.
Lovecraft argues that there is no perceptible divine presence, like a god in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant on the great map of intergalactic existence: just a small species projecting its own mental idolatries into the vast cosmos, always susceptible to be removed from existence at any time.
Cosmicism shares many characteristics with nihilism, although one important difference is that cosmicism tends to make clear the inconsistency of humanity and its actions rather than summarily rejecting the possible existence of a higher purpose (or purposes). In Lovecraft's stories it is not the absence of the meaning of things that causes horror to its protagonists, it is their discovery that makes them realize their human inability to change the indifferent and incomprehensible universe that surrounds them.
Lovecraft's cosmicism was the result of his dislike for all religious concepts and his feeling of the existential impotence of humanity in the face of what he called "infinite spaces" opened by scientific ideas, a terror towards the finiteness of being in the infinity of space and our ignorance. In his works of fiction, these ideas are expressed in different ways (Herbert West--Reanimator, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Call of Cthulhu, among others). Recurring elements related to Lovecraft's cosmicism in fiction are humanity's insignificance in the universe and the search for wisdom ending in disaster.
Lovecraft once observed that the supreme being in the universe has no likelihood of being the human being, and could more likely to be imagined to be a glowing gas floating around a distant star.
Mar 29, 2023 · Lovecraftian cosmic horror is grounded in the philosophical concept of cosmicism, the idea that human beings are insignificant specks in an uncaring, infinite universe. His stories often emphasize the vastness of time and space, the insignificance of human achievements, and the futility of our attempts to comprehend or influence the cosmic order.
Oct 31, 2016 · Perhaps the most prominent theme in cosmicism is the insignificance of humanity… Cosmicism is rooted in the absence of God and, ultimately, any sort of morality and meaning tethered to such a Presence. Lovecraft described his worldview this way: “The universe is only a furtive arrangement of elementary particles… The human race will ...
By acknowledging its insignificance in a sea of antediluvian chaos, the human being can reclaim its true significance as a necessary participant "within the chaotic tides of the universe" (288). While Greenham acknowledges the seemingly paradoxical nature of this approach, she insists on its viability given "the ubiquitous paradox on which the universe is founded" (297).
People also ask
How did Lovecraft develop cosmicism?
What does cosmicism mean?
What is cosmic indifferentism?
Was Lovecraft a cosmic indifferentist?
What is the difference between nihilism and cosmicism?
The central theme of Lovecraft's corpus is cosmicism. Cosmicism is a literary philosophy that argues that humanity is an insignificant force in the universe. Despite appearing pessimistic, Lovecraft thought of himself as being a cosmic indifferentist, which is expressed in his fiction.
